William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles
Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles
David S. Rodes, University of California, Los Angeles

The publication of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded on 6 November 1740
occasioned the kind of immediate and hyperbolic praise which would have
turned the head of an author less vain than Richardson. Proclaimed by
Aaron Hill as being "the Soul of Religion," and by Knightley Chetwood as
the book next to the Bible which ought to be saved "if all the Books in
England were to be burnt," Pamela seemed certain of universal acclaim,
especially when the Reverend Benjamin Slocock praised it extravagantly
from the pulpit of St. Saviour's in Southwark within two months of its
initial printing. Even the "Objections" voiced by several correspondents
and published at the beginning of the second edition of Pamela (14
February 1741) seemed relatively inconsequential when weighed against
the Gentleman's Magazine's assertion in January 1741 that every
Londoner with the slightest curiosity was reading Pamela .[1]

Literary and moral opposition to Pamela gradually began to mount,
however. April 1741 saw the publication of the first and perhaps most
perceptive attacks on Richardson's novel: An Apology for the Life of
Mrs. Shamela Andrews appeared on 2 April, followed by Pamela Censured:
In a Letter to the Editor some twenty three days later. While we now
feel certain that Henry Fielding wrote Shamela , the author of Pamela
Censured has eluded us.[2] Though both works attack Pamela on moral
grounds and incidentally make unflattering comments about Colley Cibber,
their literary methods differ so greatly that it is impossible to tell
whether or not Shamela influenced Pamela Censured to any extent.

Fielding's parody is too well known to be described in detail here.
Though his sophisticated wit lashes out in a number of directions, he
attacks Pamela on primarily two fronts: in prefatory letters he
assails those who would praise Richardson's novel for its moral lessons,
while in the body of Shamela he burlesques the psychological
motivations of Pamela herself, showing that she is motivated by
mercenary "vartue" rather than angelic virtue. In spite of its hasty
composition, Shamela clearly displays a kind of literary charm and
insight that was soon to characterize Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones .

Because it lacks Fielding's wit, Pamela Censured is now almost
forgotten even though it elicited an even stronger response than
Shamela from some of Richardson's defenders and detractors. The
"Introduction" to Pamela's Conduct in High Life (1741), for instance,
airily dismisses Shamela's "low Humour adapted to the Standard of a
petit Maitre's Capacity" which has been applauded only "among the Weak
and Vicious." By contrast, the same work devotes an entire four pages to
answering the various charges levelled by Pamela Censured after first
attacking its author for giving readers "such an Idea of his own vicious
Inclination, that it would not ... Continue reading book >>